1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to hand tools and the like, and more specifically to a tool for assisting in the removal and installation of the steering wheel and locking components thereof in a motor vehicle. The device may be used for pulling or pressing the steering wheel from the steering wheel shaft after access is gained to the conventional nut and threaded shaft end holding the wheel to the steering column shaft. The present tool is also useful for removing and installing the locking plate behind the steering wheel, which prevents rotation of the steering wheel and shaft when the ignition key is removed from the combination ignition and steering wheel lock. The present combination tool is easily convertible between the two functions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Newer automobiles have become increasingly complex, as consumers request more and more safety and comfort features. These features add value to the vehicles, but also make such vehicles more desirable targets for thieves. Accordingly, for some time automobiles have been required by Federal statute, to include various means for making theft more difficult.
One of the anti-theft systems which has been required in automobiles for many years, is a means of automatically locking the steering column or shaft so the steering wheel (and front wheels) cannot be turned when the ignition key is removed from the ignition switch. Accordingly, automobile manufacturers have conventionally installed the ignition switch in the steering column, where it actuates a mechanism which engages a steering shaft locking disc to preclude rotation thereof (and of the steering wheel) when the key is removed from the ignition switch.
While the above anti-theft systems have served well to prevent casual theft of automobiles, it will be seen that they also make it much more difficult to perform maintenance and repair work on such vehicles, particularly removal and replacement of worn or damaged ignition switch mechanisms, as well as other components which may only be accessed by removing the steering wheel and anti-theft components. Heretofore, a mechanic generally required at least two different tools for such work. First, a pulling tool was used for removing the steering wheel, then a separate tool was needed for compressing the locking disc for removal of its retaining snap ring.
Accordingly, a need arises for a single tool which can perform both functions required, i.e., removing the steering wheel and also compressing the locking disc against its spring for removing the snap ring used to retain the locking disc in place. The tool may also be used to install the locking disc, by compressing the disc against its backing spring so the snap ring may be reinstalled. The present invention provides a single tool which performs all of the above functions, with minimal adjustment needed to reconfigure the tool from one function to another. A discussion of the related art of which the present inventor is aware, and its differences and distinctions from the present invention, is provided below.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,394,129 issued on Oct. 18, 1921 to Alfred R. Wickersham, titled "Gear Puller," describes what is now generally considered to be a conventional tool, comprising a slotted plate with a central compression bolt and a plurality of hooks or fingers which may be adjustably installed within the slots of the plate as required. Each of the hooks includes a hooked end which is hooked through some open structure of the gear, flywheel, or other component being pulled, and the central bolt is tightened against the central shaft of the gear through a threaded passage in the disc to provide a tensile force on the disc and fingers to pull the gear from its force fit on the shaft. The fingers cannot be threaded into passages in the gear or other device, as provided by the present tool, and moreover, Wickersham does not provide any means for converting his tool for use in applying pressure to an underlying component, as provided by the present tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,708,355 issued on Apr. 9, 1929 to Eddie G. Chipman, titled "Gear Puller," describes a device for pulling gears having external helical or hypoid type tooth configurations. The central plate is cruciform with a series of threaded passages therethrough. A central bolt is used to provide a compressive force against the central shaft upon which the gear is seated, with a series of fingers being installed through the threaded passages and hooked to the teeth of the gear. Each of the fingers has a series of grooves angularly formed therein conforming to the angle and pitch of the teeth of the gear, with a flange across the distal end to capture the edge of the teeth therein. As in the case of the Wickersham puller, the Chipman puller cannot be used to provide a compressive force against a disc or the like secured to a shaft, as provided by the present combination tool. Moreover, the Chipman device is particularly adapted for use with gears having helical teeth configurations, and cannot be used for pulling a device which does not have such a tooth configuration, such as a steering wheel.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,060,559 issued on Oct. 30, 1962 to Sol J. Levinson, titled "Bearing Remover Having Axle Holding Retention Member," describes a two part tool having a base which fits behind the end plate of a drive axle, and a bearing lifting component which fits between the end plate and outer axle bearing, behind the bearing. The base is secured to the end plate, with bolts threaded through cooperating holes in the lifting component to bear against the underlying base component to force the lifting component away from the base component and lift the bearing from its fit on the end of the axle. Due to the fit of the components about the sides of the bearing and axle assembly, the device cannot be adapted for engaging a steering wheel hub and/or locking disc assembly housed within the surrounding shell of a steering column, as can the present tool. Also, the Levinson tool cannot be converted to apply a compressive force to the end plate underlying the bearing after the bearing is removed, whereas the present tool may be used to apply a compressive force to the locking disc of a steering column after the overlying steering wheel has been removed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,903 issued on May 10, 1977 to Richard Walsh, titled "Method And Tool For Removing Lock Cylinder Assemblies," describes a collet-type device which acts only upon the lock cylinder itself, to withdraw the lock cylinder from its housing in the steering column. The Walsh tool does not provide any means of removing the steering wheel from its press fit on the steering shaft, nor for compressing the locking disc for removal of its retaining snap ring, both of which functions are provided by the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,965 issued on Sep. 26, 1989 to Larry L. Drymon, titled "Compact Universal Steering Wheel Pulling System," describes a puller comprising a block with a threaded central hole and two pairs of slots disposed at different radial distances from the central hole. The Drymon puller is used conventionally, by threading a compression bolt through the central hole and passing pair of bolts through two opposed slots to engage mating threaded passages in the steering wheel hub. The central bolt is then tightened to exert a compressive force on the end of the steering shaft, with the opposed radially positioned bolts threaded into the steering wheel hub thus providing a reactive tensile force to pull the steering wheel hub from the shaft. The present tool may be used in a similar manner. However, Drymon fails to provide any radially displaced threaded passages through his puller block, whereas the present tool includes such passages. These threaded passages in the present tool allow it to be used as a locking disc compression tool when the present central block or disc is secured to the steering shaft after pulling the steering wheel, by exerting a compressive force on the underlying locking disc so the retaining snap ring may be removed. The Drymon tool cannot be used in this manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,925 issued on Mar. 20, 1990 to Rudolph E. Johnson, titled "Heavy Duty Automotive Wheel Hub Puller," describes a device comprising a bar having a central threaded passage for a compression bolt. Outwardly disposed tension bolts include lugs or ears thereon for bolting to the existing lugs of the wheel. The central bolt is then turned to compress against the axle center, thus pulling the tension bolts and attached wheel from its hub. The Johnson device thus more closely resembles the Wickersham and Chipman gear pullers discussed further above, than the present steering wheel puller with its radially displaced bolts which engage mating threaded passages in the steering wheel hub. Also, the Johnson device cannot be used to compress a disc about the hub, as can the present combination tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,312 issued on Feb. 5, 1991 to Kris L. Maddalena, titled "Universal Wheel Puller And Lock Plate Compressor Tool," describes a tool performing the same functions as the present tool, but which has a considerably different structure and configuration and operates in a different manner than the present tool. The Maddalena tool comprises a central bar (rather than the plate of the present tool). The bar includes a central threaded passage through which a large diameter rod is threaded, and laterally opposed slots to each side for accepting tension bolts. The tool is used conventionally to pull a steering wheel from its shaft, when assembled as described above. However, the Maddalena tool also has an unthreaded hole and opposed threaded passages through the bar, normal to the threaded central hole and opposed slots. The lateral bolts are threaded through the opposed holes and apply compression to the locking disc after removing the steering wheel. However, the Maddalena tool is secured to the steering shaft to provide the required compressive force, in a different manner than that used by the present tool for compressing the locking disc. The threaded rod of the Maddalena tool has a threaded socket at one end, which is secured to the steering shaft after removing the steering wheel. The unthreaded hole of the bar is then passed over the threaded rod, and a nut is threaded onto the rod above the bar. As the nut is tightened downwardly against the bar, the bar is forced toward the locking disc, compressing the two lateral bolts against the disc to compress the disc for removal of the snap ring. The Maddalena tool thus requires a different socket configuration for the central bolt, for each different thread configuration of various steering shaft ends with which the Maddalena tool is to be used. In contrast, the present tool requires only a single central bolt, with the diameter and pitch of the central bolt being unimportant so long as it matches the diameter and pitch of the central passage of the plate of the present tool, with that passage having a larger diameter than the threaded steering shaft end. Thus, the central plate may be passed over the threaded steering shaft end, and the original steering wheel nut, removed before removing the steering wheel, is threaded back onto the end of the shaft to compress the plate toward the locking disc. The Maddalena device is considerably more complex, requiring the central bolt to be unthreaded from the threaded hole, reinserted into the unthreaded hole 90 degrees to the first hole, and a cooperating nut (with one required for each different bolt configuration) threaded onto the bolt, to compress the bar.
Finally, British Patent Publication No. 1,404,002 published on Aug. 28, 1975 to Alan G. Purvis, titled "Puller Tool," describes a tool for pulling wheel hubs from their mating axles, in the manner of the tool of the Johnson '925 U.S. patent discussed further above. Various embodiments of the Purvis tool are disclosed, for use in pulling wheels having various numbers of lugs. Thus, the Purvis tool is more closely related to the device of the Johnson '925 U.S. patent, than to the present invention.
None of the above inventions and patents, either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.